


Reservations at Eight

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Marnie and the Shark [3]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Christmas, Episode: s03e10 Bartlet for America, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:24:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You have never given me any indication that I come first.  You are off the hook."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reservations at Eight

**Author's Note:**

> For reference, I shaved 10 years from Ron Silver, Bruno was born in 1956 for these stories. I scoured the internet for a birth date for NiCole Robinson but found nothing so I am going with 1967. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

Leo walked into his office on the morning of Christmas Eve. He looked as if he had gotten little to no sleep and there was a slump in his shoulders. The White House Chief of Staff carried the hopes, fears, and aspirations of Josiah Bartlet on his back. That and the revelation of his fall off the wagon on October 30, 1998. His head was in the guillotine and Margaret only wished there was something she could do to help. For almost 13 years she had been with him...she had seen all the sides of Leo McGarry.

"Good morning Leo." Margaret tried her best to smile. No one was smiling much right now.

"What are you doing here today? Its Christmas Eve...don't you have a flight home?"

"I can't go to New York this year. Not with all that is going on. You know..."

"Unacceptable." Leo shook his head. "You need to be home with your family, not here protecting me. I am getting you a flight home."

"Leo, I'm fine. It is busy here and my family understands. Stop fussing. I am only doing a half-day and so are you by the way."

"I have..."

"Don’t argue, you will lose." Margaret replied.

Leo let out a resigned sigh. With Margaret, CJ, and Jordan running his life he might actually survive what looked like a kamikaze flight. He could hardly let himself hope.

"Those are beautiful roses." He said. There were two dozen red roses in a Christmas vase on her desk. "Who are they from?"

"My brother." She lied. "Go and settle in. Do you want coffee and a pastry?"

Leo nodded, going into his office. Margaret headed down to the mess. Ginger and Erica from the Congressional Liaisons office were down there. Ginger fingered all the pastries.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Erica asked.

"I don’t have any." Margaret poured a large cup of coffee. "I have to stay here and help Leo."

"He’s married...his wife can do that. They get to spend Christmas together and you have to be alone. That is not fair."

"Maybe I won't be alone. Leo needs me, OK. I am not saying that out of some misplaced loyalty. You watch C-Span; they are trying to hang him."

"I'm behind you Margaret." Ginger replied, glaring at Erica. "I am cooking dinner at my place tomorrow and you are welcome. I'm just having a bunch of friends over. People who couldn’t make it home, you know."

"Thanks." Margaret smiled as she grabbed an iced blueberry Danish. "I may have some friends over too but if not I will definitely stop by."

She paid for everything and went back upstairs. The White House was practically deserted; everyone was trying to make last minute trains and flights all over the country. Congress was in recess for the next two weeks. Toby, Nora, and Josh were around but Margaret had yet to see them. The President was in the residence...even he was spending his Christmas in Washington.

"Your brother called while you were down in the mess." Leo said when she came into his office with breakfast.

"Russell?" she asked, taking the message slip from him.

"Larry. I don’t like the idea of you not being with your family this year. I know how tight-knit the Hooper clan is."

"Leo, we bicker every year. It is sport for us, but it does get tiresome. I thought I told you about answering the phones."

"It was getting on my nerves. Thanks for the coffee."

"Sure. Don’t forget to call Elizabeth and Josie before you leave today. I left their numbers on your desk."

Margaret left the office, closing the door behind her. Sitting at her desk and pulling her cell phone from her purse, she dialed the return number.

"Hi."

"Hey there Larry. Why did you call my office phone?"

"I knew that was where I would find you. You turned your cell phone off."

"I'm at work. The flowers are beautiful. Red roses in winter; they must have cost you a fortune."

"Inconsequential. Did you read the card?"

"Reservations at eight; 701. Dress semi-formal." Margaret said off the top of her head.

"Anything else?"

"I'm looking forward to it. B.G."

"That was in case some intern decided to read it." Bruno replied. "Can you make it?"

"Yes. This is our first date."

"This is not our first date Marnie."

"You have never taken me to a restaurant." She said.

"Your hours, and mine for that matter, do not make this a small task. Tonight is different...all things are possible on Christmas Eve."

"Are you bringing mistletoe?" Margaret could not help the smile that crept across her face.

"I will tie it around my neck."

"Be careful, you could choke to death." She said.

"The headline will read, Top Political Strategist strangled by romantic intention." Bruno replied.

Margaret laughed.

"I’ll meet you there at 8. Goodbye."

She clicked off her phone. Some of this filing and paperwork had to get off her desk before Leo decided to kick her out.

***

"OK, time to go."

Leo came out of his office at 12:30 and stood in front of Margaret’s desk. She shut down her laptop and organized the last of the paperwork.

"Is there anything else you need before I go?" she asked.

"No. Jordan Kendall is coming at 1:30 but I hope to be out of here by three."

"I can stay..."

"Margaret." Leo’s voice was firm. "You are not going to be with your family because of me and that is bad enough. I will not have you stay here and play Bob Crachit." He handed her two boxes wrapped in green Christmas paper. "Merry Christmas."

"Thank you Leo. You didn’t have to do that."

"You mean the world to me and I don’t say it because I have difficulty, but on days like today I get to show you. Go home, curl up, and read a good book. Please enjoy the rest of your day and the holiday."

She nodded standing and going to get her coat. She leaned to kiss his cheek once she was standing in front of him and ignored the blush across his face.

"Merry Christmas Leo. I left your gift in your top drawer, as I always do. I wanted you to discover it before St. Patrick’s Day this year. Thank you so much."

"For what?"

"I don’t know, being the man that you are. I hope everyone knows how lucky they truly are that you have their backs."

He didn’t say a word. He just squeezed her hand and went back into his office. Margaret grabbed her bag and left the White House. It was cold out but not windy...she decided to walk the seven blocks to her apartment. It was the perfect December day and though she was sad not to be home, the nation's capital had the sounds and smells of the season too.

Her cell phone rang just up the street from her front door. Margaret grabbed it from her coat pocket.

"Hello."

"Don’t hate me."

"You have to cancel; I understand."

"I got a guy in Chicago trying to gauge some tough laws they want to enact starting January 1. They want to do a major strategy session before the City Council comes back from recess."

"It’s Christmas Eve." Margaret reasoned.

"I know Marnie. They don’t care, and I..."

"You don’t care either." She finished. She stood on the stoop of her building holding her house keys. She could hardly hide the crack in her voice. "They certainly don’t pay you to excess to care. Merry Christmas Bruno."

She flipped her phone and went into her apartment. No family, no date, and no dinner. _OK_ , Margaret thought as she dropped everything in the chair near the front door, _you can salvage this. There are two Cornish hens in the freezer, movies galore on cable, and the new Jane Green novel on your nightstand. It won't be romance or a family gathering but it’s something_. First would come lunch. She had been too busy tending to Leo to eat a thing. A big turkey sandwich wouldn’t make her feel better but it might make her fall asleep for a little while.

***

She woke with a start at 6:30. _Vanity Fair_ , the book, not the magazine, was still across her lap. A quarter of the turkey sandwich and tea gone cold sat on the coffee table. Margaret had been running on all cylinders lately...it was no wonder she crashed and burned. Her ringing cell phone made her jump. She knew who it was; normal people called her house.

"Hello."

"You are angry at me and I don’t want you to be." Bruno said.

"I'm not. I'm tired, maybe a bit cranky and I miss my family."

"Did I wake you?"

"I've been up for a few minutes. Look Bruno, we all do what we have to, so if Chicago needs you then they need you. You have never given me any indication that I come first. You're off the hook."

She stood from the couch and stretched. There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

"I'm here. I don’t know what to say."

"OK. Well, I really have to go to the bathroom so I will hang up now. I’ll talk to you later."

"Yeah."

She flipped the phone, turned it off and headed down the hall. Margaret had to stop herself before she fell even harder for this man. How did she fall in the first place? On the surface, Bruno Gianelli had few redeeming qualities. Still, there was something there and Margaret felt it. She felt it when they were in bed together, or during the silences in their conversations. She felt the body language and the way he smiled at her sometimes. Oh hell, maybe nothing was there at all.

It could all be a figment of her love and sleep deprived imagination. Bruno was not going to fall in love with her; sweep her off her feet with flowers and candy. Even if he wanted to, which sometimes Margaret was sure he did, he seemed incapable. She learned a long time ago that a woman could not change a man. Nine months...it was time to get out while the getting was good.

***

By eight thirty, Margaret sat Indian style on her bed surrounded by work. She had to put together forty-five briefing books for the education strategy meetings that started on Monday. Leo raised an eyebrow when she and Charlie dragged all the papers and binders out to a cab one afternoon, but now she was glad she did. It gave her something to focus her mind on other than being alone and stood up on Christmas Eve. Wait, could you still call it stood up if he cancelled? What did it matter? Alone was alone.

There was work though...Margaret could always depend on work. A classic overachiever, doing good work had been Margaret’s way of showing her strength for as long as she could remember. How else do you stand out in a family of six? She was a straight A student, valedictorian of her high school class, and a magna cum laude academic scholarship student at American University. Of course, there were things she missed, social events and rites of passage that time and pride made her dismiss as trivial. Having to take your sister’s lecherous leftovers on the prom was tolerable, but being a 21-year-old virgin...where had the time gone.

Margaret had a boyfriend in college. She and Tom Hampton met at orientation and never separated. How happy were her parents when they met him? He was a mirror image of herself, and a champion tennis player. They spent time over wine comparing Faulkner and Tennessee Williams or arguing about how close Lenin remained to Marx’s theories after the Russian Revolution of 1917. They kissed, and they made out, but he never pressured her about sex. Margaret’s head was too often in books or the clouds to think of it herself.

She expected a marriage proposal at the big graduation party her parents threw for her and her sister Ann, who had just squeaked through Vassar. Instead, he dumped her. Tom was going to Oxford for two years to study the Cold War. Long distance was a bad idea; he thought it was better to end as friends. It was the first time that Margaret ever hit another human being.

Then Ann introduced her to the beauty of Jack and Coke. She dragged Ann’s friend Randy to her bedroom and said adios to her virginity. It was not romantic, pretty, or painless, but it was too late for that. Margaret felt she could depend on nothing but her work and her mind for happiness. The rest was like first-time sex.

Now Bruno Gianelli thought he could just breeze into her life and knock her off the beaten path. He made her heady; feel beautiful and romantic. They last time Margaret truly felt that way the fall back to Earth left her battered and bruised. In her head, she constantly reminded herself that Bruno would never devote himself to one woman. She had as much chance of a settled lifestyle with him as she did with that kid Randy. Margaret was a notch on his belt. He liked her more than most but she was a number just the same.

He had been around for nine months though. Not consistently, but enough. Something about him, and she had no idea what, intrigued her. He talked to her, not at her. He knew how smart she was and grinned at her oddities. That made her feel as if she could tell him things. Not necessarily personal things, but thoughts and feelings on her past, present, and future. Bruno was an enigma...a jerk, a sweetheart, an open book, and a locked safe. Margaret was falling in love and didn’t know how to stop.

Sighing, she sipped the glass of white wine on her nightstand and went back to her paperwork. She turned the heat up almost 15 degrees in her apartment to simulate the warmth of her parents’ Ogdensburg home, and Perry Como sang Christmas songs on the stereo. Every year the five younger Hooper kids, Russell was almost 12 years older than the youngest, would fight over which record to play on Christmas Eve. Margaret’s choice of Perry Como always broke the tie. The only thing better than Christmas songs were Hall and Oates.

Her front door buzzed; Margaret got up from the bed to answer it. It was after nine and she certainly had not ordered anything.

"Coming!" she called down the hall.

Unlocking all three locks, Margaret pulled the door open and looked at a Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas Marnie."

Bruno pulled down the tree and smiled. Well, he almost smiled. Margaret could not find her voice.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"I should say no."

"You should, but...I have a tree."

"Get in here."

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile as he lugged in the tree and several shopping bags.

"What is all this?" she asked, closing and locking the door.

"I brought you Christmas. I know it has nothing on being with the clan, but..."

"Oh Bruno. Oh my God."

He looked up after putting the tree in the stand. Now his smile was genuine.

"You're going to cry, aren’t you?"

Margaret shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. Bruno put his hands on her shoulders, kissing her.

"Don’t worry; you'll hate me in the morning."

"Promise?" she sniffled as he wiped her cheeks dry.

"Scout’s honor. Gimme another kiss."

She smiled and complied.

"What have you done?"

Margaret pulled away from him and went over to the tree and the bags.

"I got the tree, artificial but with real pine smell; some dinner; food for tomorrow; movies; and gifts."

"You're kidding me?"

Margaret took the bags into the kitchen and Bruno followed.

"Are you hungry? I brought chicken and some side dishes...I couldn’t remember what you liked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she turned to look at him. "You should be in a suite on the Magnificent Mile by now. Was that a lie?"

"No." Bruno shook his head firmly. "No lies, remember? I just canceled; I wanted to be here."

"Oh. OK."

Margaret filled her refrigerator and left the wine on the counter.

"What were you doing tonight?" Bruno asked.

"Working. I'm not hungry and I have a glass of wine in my room. I had gotten used to the idea of being alone, hence the outfit."

Bruno’s lips curled as he checked out Margaret’s shorts and ‘naughty or nice’ tank top. He took a deep breath.

"I deserve your disdain, but let’s decorate the tree. Turn that frown upside down."

"Who are you and what have you done with Bruno Gianelli?" Margaret asked with a smirk.

"Come on, I know you want to."

She brought Perry Como into the living room and started opening the decorations. Strings of colored lights, silver garland, balls and bells. Bruno had gone all out and Margaret noticed he smiled as he helped her.

"Tell me what Christmas was like for you as a child?" she asked.

She was crouching near the TV to plug in the lights as they covered the tree.

"No different than most kids. Food, fights, and family."

"Fights?" she looked at him.

"My brothers and I. The Gianelli boys were raucous...thrown out of five of the finest Catholic schools in the city. One year we knocked over the tree. My father skinned us that day; all three of us."

"Oh God, there are two other men roaming this Earth just like you?"

"Not just like me, hence the fighting."

Bruno picked up his Shiraz and took a healthy sip. He stared at the tree, and satisfied with the lights he started with the garland. He didn’t want to talk too much about his family. The Gianellis were close-knit, they had their differences, and he did miss them at the holidays.

"There are four of us; Gabe, me, Alfie, and Lina. Man, I felt bad for Lina. She had three older brothers and found it difficult to keep a boyfriend. Everyone thought we were in the Mafia."

"Are you? Where did you grow up?"

"New York City, and we are not the Mafia...they had a lot more money than us. It was the best place in the world until I discovered the Bay Area. San Francisco is heaven’s playground."

"What’s DC?" Margaret asked.

"The dump where the President lives."

Margaret laughed. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. Bruno's hands covered hers.

"Shall we take this to the bedroom Miss Hooper?" he asked.

"There are papers all over the bed. I told you I was working. Company was the last thing I expected tonight."

"Shall we take this to the couch Miss Hooper?"

He turned her around in his arms, kissing her passionately. Margaret was breathless and sighed against him. Bruno pulled their bodies close together, kissing her neck and shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair before leading them over to the couch.

"I like these pajamas." He whispered against her mouth. "Let’s get you out of them, OK?"

She nodded, the tank top going over her head. The shorts went too. His mouth was warm on her skin...placing kisses all over her neck and chest.

"Mmm."

"You like that?"

"You know I do."

"I don’t know. You're usually quiet."

"What do you want me to do Bruno?" Margaret asked as she unbuttoned his shirt. "Dance the Charleston?"

"What is with you and dancing references?"

Bruno yanked his slacks down and then down his legs and off his feet. Margaret ran her hands down his chest.

"I love your chest." She whispered.

"Oh, I love yours too."

Bruno caressed her breasts, flicking his tongue across a nipple. Margaret closed her eyes and arched her back.

"Would you do something for me Marnie?"

"What?"

Her body was ready to make love...what could he possibly want.

"Suck my cock?"

"Excuse me?" her green eyes widened and her body went stiff.

"Whoa, you don’t have to get upset. Its not rocket science. I thought that..."

"I've never done it before." She blurted out.

"It’s been nine months and...oh my God. You mean ever. Ever?"

"Oh God, this is so embarrassing." She covered her eyes and her face turned red. Margaret turned her body under his. "Get off me Bruno. Get off me!"

He pulled up into a sitting position and she got off the couch altogether. Grabbing his shirt, Margaret covered her nudity. Now she paced in front of the coffee table trying to avoid looking at Bruno and his semi-erect cock.

"Marnie, I didn't mean..."

"I mean, how silly is this? I'm a 34 year old woman who has never...you know. I must be a paleontologist’s dream; I'm like the missing link."

"Stop it." he stood and put his arms around her. "So you have never given a blow job. There are worse things. There are better things to be ashamed of."

"Like what? I can't think of a damn thing right now."

"How about a woman who doesn’t know the finer points of Shakespeare? Or a woman who has never enjoyed Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?"

"You're placating me. That’s bullshit."

"Oh come on Marnie. So you don’t suck dick. Fine, I’ll just put on my clothes and leave because God forbid I ever wanted to be with a woman who had more to offer than her cock-sucking abilities."

She pulled away some, looking at him hard.

"Bruno..."

"Seriously baby, I don't care. I came here to make you happy on Christmas Eve and you're not happy right now. Let’s change that."

She kissed him and held him close.

"Why are you so sweet sometimes?" she asked.

"I really have no idea." He replied. "C’mon, let’s get you naked and back on the couch."

Margaret smiled, letting him remove the shirt.

***

"I have a present for you."

Margaret lay in Bruno’s arms on the couch after they made love. She threw an afghan over them, resting her cheek on Bruno’s chest. He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed as she drew figure eights across his stomach.

"Why?" Margaret asked.

"Because it’s Christmas. What kind of lout shows up at a special woman’s house with no gift?"

"So, you bought me a gift so you wouldn’t look like a lout?"

Bruno leaned and kissed her forehead.

"I can always take it back to the store. The after Christmas sales are pretty good."

"No!" she sat up some. "I want it."

"You want it?" Bruno asked.

He rolled his body onto hers and kissed her. Margaret smiled.

"I want it." she whispered.

"OK." He kissed her nose. "Where are my pants?"

Margaret reached down and grabbed his slacks from the carpet. The ring box fell onto the afghan.

"Is this for me?"

"Yeah. Open it."

 _Oh my God_ , she thought, _it’s a ring. He bought me a ring. What the hell..._ Margaret opened the box and gasped.

"It’s beautiful Bruno. Wow, it’s...I don’t know what to say."

"But you like it right?" there was a hesitation in his voice she never heard before.

"What's not to like?"

It was a one-carat emerald on a platinum band with what had to be half-carat diamonds on each side. Margaret didn’t think she had ever seen a ring more beautiful in her life.

"The jeweler told me the emerald was nearly flawless; my people confirmed that. The diamonds..."

"Do you understand the significance of a gift like this?" she asked.

"I saw it and I thought the emerald would bring out your eyes." Bruno said. "I thought you would like it."

"I love it, but..."

"Put it on Marnie. Let’s see how it looks."

Bruno took the ring from the velvet and slipped it on Margaret’s right ring finger. He kissed her softly.

"Stunning; just like the woman who wears it."

"Thank you. I'm hungry. Maybe we can have a late dinner and finish the tree."

She sat up, swinging her feet onto the floor and staring at the ring. God...it was mesmerizing. Margaret couldn’t help but smile when Bruno kissed up and down her spine.

"I’ll make you something." She said. "Just relax."

She went into the kitchen and cried silent tears. Here she was standing in front of her open refrigerator, wearing what was clearly an engagement ring to anyone with more than five brain cells. She was making a meal for a man who lay naked on her couch after showing up at her apartment with a Christmas tree. Something was so wrong with this picture. Sniffling and wiping her tears, Margaret decided that she was going to have to make some hard choices and changes in 2002.

***


End file.
